Crawford has allowed a single goal. Even though he won the Stanley Cup last s

CLEVELAND -- On his way out to the field for pregame batting practice, Jason Kipnis hung a hard right in the Indians clubhouse to give Jason Giambi a big hug. Wholesale Fake Vans . "Great to see you," Kipnis told Clevelands respected designated hitter. "You, too, little brother," Giambi said. Big G is back with the Indians. Almost. Sidelined since spring training by a fractured rib, Giambi has been cleared to play and is scheduled to be activated from the disabled list Monday, when the Indians open a four-game series with the Kansas City Royals. The 43-year-old recently played in several games in a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Akron, a stop that helped his swing and also brought back memories of his path to the big leagues. "Sometimes you forget the grind," Giambi said. "Its been 20 years since I was a minor leaguer." While he was with the Aeros, Giambi and teammate Michael Bourn, who was with him to rehab a strained hamstring, treated the minor leaguers to several meals and found themselves serving up advice to some of the youngsters in Clevelands system. It comes naturally to Giambi, who is still playing but may one day try his hand at managing. He was a finalist for Colorados opening before signing with the Indians before last season. "Id like to, but the universe will determine that, not me," Giambi said with a laugh at his locker. "I love the nuances of the game and being a part of that. Ive played for some of the greatest managers in the game, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre and Tito (Terry Francona) and Jim Tracy." Giambi said hes ready to play, but the Indians will wait until after the weekend. Giambi took batting practice before Fridays series opener against Toronto and looked to be himself while launching several home runs into the right-field seats. The Indians have opened 7-8 without Giambi, and Francona said his presence has been missed inside the clubhouse, dugout and on the field. "Guys know hes there," Francona said. "Shoot, I know hes there. Because G is never going to back down from anybody and that doesnt mean you have to fight or anything. But its a nice teammates to have around. He can be a settling influence. He can kick somebody in the pants. Hes a great guy to have around. "Believe me, I wouldnt say all these things if they werent true. This is how I feel." Giambi injured his rib during spring training and was placed on the DL on March 30. While he batted just .183 last season, he hit nine homers and drove in 31 runs in 186 at-bats. Giambi also provided perhaps the seasons signature moment, when he belted a pinch-hit homer in the 10th inning to beat Chicago on Sept. 24. The homer helped propel the Indians to their first playoff appearance since 2007. While some fans look only at Giambis statistics and wonder why the Indians would dedicate a roster spot to an aging, situational hitter, Francona says Giambis impact goes way beyond numbers. "G can change the game in the batters box," Francona said. "Hes not here to hit .300, that would be great. But hes here to change the game with one of his swings and he has the ability to do that." Fake Vans Outlet . - The infectious smile was missing from Nam Nguyen last week. Fake Vans Toy Story . He was with the New York Jets in 2011 when the NFL locked out their players after they failed to agree on a new contract. Willy went undrafted but was given a look by four NFL teams before heading north. http://www.fakevans.com/fake-vans-sk8/ . Ryan Callahan trade talks caught a lot of people off guard. Details are now emerging about why the Rangers would consider such a move. Darren Dreger: He wants a lot of money. Its been widely reported that Callahan is looking for a seven-year term around $6 million per year. That is not accurate. Im told that it is more than $6.The Chicago Blackhawks opened the Western Conference Final with a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in Game One. Notes on the Jonathan Toews-Anze Kopitar matchup, Duncan Keith, Jeff Schultz, Corey Crawford and more. Blackhawks LW Brandon Saad had a goal and an assist to lead Chicagos attack, but the Blackhawks did not hold the territorial edge in play against the Kings. Only three Blackhawks -- Bryan Bickell, Jonathan Toews and Johnny Oduya -- were on the ice for better than 50% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. Real credit for the Blackhawks defensive effort must go to the line of Toews, Bickell and Marian Hossa, along with the defence pairing of Oduya and Niklas Hjalmarsson; they took on the toughest matchup, against the Kings top line and, in addition to Toews tallying the Blackhawks third goal, the unit held the playoffs leading scorer, Kings C Anze Kopitar, without a shot attempt and RW Justin Williams had all four of his attempts blocked. Blackhawks D Duncan Keith, who scored the game-winning goal, was on for 30.8% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts, getting the wrong end of a frequent matchup against the line of Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson. Toffoli was the Kings lone goal-scorer. In a surprise twwist, Kings D Jeff Schultz, who had turnovers that contributed to the Blackhawks first two goals, also had spectacular puck possession numbers. Fake Vans Slip-on. With Schultz on the ice, the Kings had 22 shot attempts for and five against, 81.5%. With Schultz off the ice, the Kings earned 45.6% of the games 5-on-5 shot attempts. While the Blackhawks didnt hold the possession edge overall, they did get another strong goaltending performance from Corey Crawford, who stopped 25 of 26 shots -- the third straight game in which Crawford has allowed a single goal. Even though he won the Stanley Cup last season, he doesnt necessarily have the postseason rep of Kings netminder Jonathan Quick, but Crawford has done all right for himself in 50 career playoff games. Since 2000, he ranks third (behind Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask) in save percentage, among goaltenders with at least 40 playoff appearances. Since the Blackhawks and Kings are both top-tier possession clubs, it could easily come down to which team gets the better goaltending and Crawford gives the Blackhawks a legitimate chance to win that matchup. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '